If the highly touted appointment of Mr Gold is about to be confirmed ...and he has gone back to South Africa because he wants to see his family after months apart then great why not?

He can recharge his batteries after his valiant attempt to turn around The Falcons, convince his family that Bath is a great place to live (well that bits easy coz it is) and leave our cEO NB to hold a press conference as he enjoys talking about every aspect of the club...including coaching!!!

I am sure that NB will be the announcer of the new coaches and hopefully he will be crystal clear on who has been appointed to what role and what is the new structure and reporting lines.

I also hope that Mr Gold will stamp his personality on the team and be given the FULL and SOLE responsibility for all playing related matters. It will also be good to know if the expected appointments of "Hats" and Ford were his choices. I hope so...then there will be no politics, no excuses and the players will no ... who is in charge.

With the excellent Brad offering continuity and credibility in delivering one of the best defences in the Prem, We hopefully will go from having 2.5 coaches to a compliment of FOUR FULL TIME coaches, all with a proven track record as players and or coaches.

After the announcements, I hope the Exec leave the coaches alone and let them coach!

If he can get the Bath squad to match the spirit of the Falcons squad in his time there, he has my vote. Admittedly its a different scenario (hopefully!) but from reports he seems to be both liked and respected. Also, if you look at the falcons results in the time he was there, compared to before, he seems to know how to get the best out of a team. Like most though I am perplexed by the apparent signing of Ford as well. How will he and Davis work together as surely we aren't going to be the stage for Ford to try a new area of coaching? Could it be Gold (Head and attack coach), Ford (defence), Hatley (Forwards) and Davis (Skills)? I thought they were trying to push Davis up the pecking order?

I'd be amazed if Gold is the attack coach, as he's a forwards coach traditionally. As has been said above, Brad was a first receiver in League and I think if he is given less of a work load, he could be brilliant there. He will have learnt and absorbed a hell of a lot from Steve Meehan, both positive things and things not to do. Brad Davis knows Bath inside out, and he knows the Premiership inside out. If he's not over worked, he is brilliant. Ford will do the defence, Brad will be attack and skills.

Where does the rumoured arrivalof Hatley from Irish fit in then? Someone said on another thread that Ford and Davis were players together at Castleford. So they know each other of old, but as players not colleagues. Is this the case - anyone?

If we don't have one then the hc s effectively doing the role. Either that or nb is. I do think that there is a distinction between the roles, different skills, and even subtly different goals, so I'd say there is certainly room for different people, perhaps disappointed that we're not looking beyond that.

It is thought the South African's coaching staff will include current London Irish boss Toby Booth forward coach, former Exiles prop Neal Hatley scrum coah and ex-England defence coach Mike Ford
London Irish team up from the past.Sorry could of been better back room staff.

The Press Association are also widely reporting the Radio interview and confirming the appointment of Gold

Will NB & BC release a statement?

If true about Booth then I will be even more impressed as this will give us a strong coaching set up and give us the platform to put our club back into competing for trophies.

Interesting post Re new players. Lets see if BC will give Gold the mandate to make changes to the playing staff and bring in new signings. I still believe we have a strong player base who just did not perform this term, but maybe Gold & co can give them confidence and revitalise the careers of one or two as well as build on the excellent form of others. There are a few positions mind that I would love to see new blood (12/13)

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